Miller Keen For Win Under His Leadership

29 May 2011 10:33

Scotland don't often get the chance to lift a trophy so no wonder Kenny Miller wants to be the one to lift the prize. Kenny Miller wants to lift the Carling Nations Cup while he is wearing the captain's armband. The Bursaspor striker is wearing the armband in Dublin this week in the absence of Darren Fletcher, who was with the Manchester United camp preparing for the Champions League final. Wins over Northern Ireland in February and Wales on Wednesday means it is a straight 'winner takes all' game with the host nation, the Republic of Ireland, for the trophy. Miller said: "Being the captain is great and it's been a pleasure to play in this tournament. For us, we have had two great performances and two great results and hopefully we can cap it off on Sunday with another good performance and get the right result. We set out at the start to win the tournament and if we can get the right result, we will do. The fact there is that bit of silverware at the end of it adds that little bit of importance. It has produced some good football, two great results and it's been great for us." Miller insists there is no chance of the Scotland players allowing their thoughts to turn to their summer holidays before tonight's game. He added: "It's pretty much been set in our heads that we've got these two games coming up at the end of the season and you prepare yourself for them. But there is no doubt there will be a few relieved lads in there when the end of the season comes and they can go on holiday. It's been a long, hard season for a lot of players but there is just one more game to go. Hopefully we can get the right result and then go on holiday." Manager Craig Levein is determined to get players desperate to play for their country again. He believes get-togethers like this one in Dublin can only boost his aim. He said: "That's the difficulty for every international manager. In recent years there has been a change in the importance of international football. Club football, in some areas, has become more important. That, for an international manager, is an extremely difficult situation to cope with. As the Scotland manager, my job is to make playing for Scotland as attractive as possible so that everybody wants to be here and everybody wants to play. The more often we can get them together, the better it is. That allows them to work together in training and also spend time together, which can only help them foster a good attitude. We are working towards that and we are improving and every now and then there will be a snap-shot of where that improvement is. The game on Sunday is another snap-shot of where we are."